No. It had much more challenging STEM and smarter, more driven kids.

Class size wasn't smaller, I'll give you that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school really isn't worth it.

Came from a highly ranked elementary in MD, went private.
The difference is night and day.

Funny, I had the exact opposite experience.

Your private school had high class sizes with teachers more concerned with checking off boxes than actual learning? I doubt it

Anonymous wrote:Public school really isn't worth it.

Came from a highly ranked elementary in MD, went private.
The difference is night and day.

Funny, I had the exact opposite experience.

Public school really isn't worth it.

Came from a highly ranked elementary in MD, went private.
The difference is night and day.

Most teachers know exactly how to teach kids to read. Teaching reading is a combination of phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Most teachers do this. Most parents do NOT know how to encourage or require, depending on the kid, reading at home. When kids don't know how to read well by the end of 2nd grade, there are 3 reasons: a) special ed, b) bad parenting or c) kid isn't working hard enough.

Learning is not merely memorization of facts, though memorization of facts is important. Nor is learning simply projects, or project based learning. It is both and, not either or.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Achievement gaps will only ever be eliminated by changes in homes and society in general. Attempting to correct them in the schools is too little, too late.

+1

+2

Parents are the ones who set the tone for how much the child will value education and put forth effort.

Private schools are,generally speaking, a complete waste of money.

Anonymous wrote:School is partially childcare, and we should run with that instead of chanting "school isn't childcare" and hoping that becomes true.

School programming should be available at least 9 to 5 if not longer. It shouldn't all be mandatory or in the classroom but we need to accommodate working parents and we need provide the supervision and enrichment activities that lower income working parents cant/won't. Our society would be much better for it.

School is not and schools not be childcare. Cities should be required to make truly affordable, high quality enrichment programs available after school hours to any family who chooses to enroll their children. This would allow us to decrease school hours for younger students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Achievement gaps will only ever be eliminated by changes in homes and society in general. Attempting to correct them in the schools is too little, too late.

+1

X a million

But I’m gonna up the anti...
If we removed children from their shitty homes and boarded them, we’d see a dramatic drop in crime within 20 years.

Boarding school? It's Lord of the Flies there. There's a reason we closed the orphanages.

Having them board with families who are raising academically successful children is the answer.

.
Why not go one step further and make parents go through an application process to be allowed to have children?

All silly ideas, but just goes to show how tough and big the problem is

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Achievement gaps will only ever be eliminated by changes in homes and society in general. Attempting to correct them in the schools is too little, too late.

+1

X a million

But I’m gonna up the anti...
If we removed children from their shitty homes and boarded them, we’d see a dramatic drop in crime within 20 years.

Boarding school? It's Lord of the Flies there. There's a reason we closed the orphanages.

Having them board with families who are raising academically successful children is the answer.

Phonics, Phonics, Phonics!!! Memorization of math facts in early elementary. Both are KEY. Also, more important to get OUTSIDE UNSTRUCTURED activity than to have another 1/2 hour devoted to reading time (especially when its not phonics).

No one cares where your kid goes to college.

Your child going to a prestigious college does not reflect glory on you as a parent.

The best college for particular kid is a college that helps the kid find a sense of meaning and purpose in life and work.

All unpopular opinions around here, I know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most accelerated kids are garden-variety bright, not gifted.

+1

And once they get to upper level high school courses they work incredibly hard but pretend it is just innate ability.

And their parents who have pushed them have done them no favor at all.

Anonymous wrote:It's not about being smart, it's about doing the work. Most people are lady and don't work hard enough

Way to be misogynistic.

Anonymous wrote:School is partially childcare, and we should run with that instead of chanting "school isn't childcare" and hoping that becomes true.

School programming should be available at least 9 to 5 if not longer. It shouldn't all be mandatory or in the classroom but we need to accommodate working parents and we need provide the supervision and enrichment activities that lower income working parents cant/won't. Our society would be much better for it.

Doesn't every elementary school have some form of before care and after care? In some schools, after care is limited. Maybe that's what you mean? Or are you referring to the lack of universal full-day preschool?